This invention relates generally to frying apparatus and more particularly to a thermostat system with biasing heater for temperature regulation of frying apparatus.
Frying apparatus, such as a deep fat frying system, usually includes a frypot for containing cooking oil with heating coils mounted on the rear wall of the structure and suspended in the oil. A bulb thermostat is normally attached to the heating coils with a capillary tube extending upward to the control unit. The heating coils are sometimes pivotally mounted to swing upward and rearward to facilitate cleaning of the coils and frypot. This arrangement requires that the control unit for the coils and thermostat be placed on the rear wall so that the coils may be raised without bending the capillary tube. Consequently, an operator must reach across a hot frypot to adjust the thermostat controls.
Some systems have provided a remote control switch on the front wall of the frying apparatus electrically connected to a motor unit which controls a thermostat on the rear wall. Such a system requires additional equipment and servicing for the remote control feature. Moreover, accurate adjustment by remote means is often more difficult and time-consuming than normal manual adjustment.
The present invention provides an operating thermostat mounted on the front wall of frying apparatus and extending into the frypot above the heating coils for controlling the cooking temperature. This approach allows the use of a differential expansion type thermostat which is much more sensitive and accurate than the hydraulic bulb type required if the thermostat is attached to the heating elements. The thermostat is separate from the heating coils to allow the coils to be pivoted upward for cleaning without moving the thermostat. The thermostat and heater controls are mounted on the front of the apparatus to allow adjustment of the controls without reaching across the frypot.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a frying apparatus is provided with heating elements in a cooking basin to heat fluid for deep fat frying. Thermal control means are provided in the basin separate from the heating elements for regulating the fluid temperature. Heating means adjacent the thermal control means simulate the temperature of the main heater elements to the thermal control means, compensating for the distance separating the thermal control means from the main heating elements by establishing gravity circulation at the same rate as the main elements.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a deep fat frying system includes a frypot for containing cooking oil and heating coils pivotally mounted to rotate upward. A thermostat is mounted separate from the heating coils and in electrical communication with the coils to maintain the cooking oil at a predetermined temperature by switching the coils. A biasing heater adjacent the thermostat provides additional heat to simulate the temperature of the cooking oil contiguous to the coils.